Days in accounts receivable is the billing metric that most directly predicts your practice’s cash flow position. The industry benchmark for audiology is under 28 days. Practices running above 35 days are carrying a cash flow problem that compounds every month.
How to Calculate Your Current AR Days
The formula is straightforward: divide your total outstanding accounts receivable balance by your average daily charges. If your practice has $85,000 in outstanding AR and your average daily charges are $2,800, your AR days are 30.4. That is above benchmark but not yet in the danger zone. If the same practice has $120,000 in AR, the number jumps to 42.8, which signals a billing workflow problem.
The calculation is most useful when you break it down by payer type rather than running it as a single number. Some payers consistently reimburse in 14 to 18 days. Others routinely take 45 to 60 days. Your overall AR days number is an average that may be hiding a specific payer or claim category that is dragging the whole number down.
Run your AR aging report right now. Look at how much of your outstanding balance is in the 0-30 day bucket versus the 31-60, 61-90, and 90-plus buckets. Any balance in the 90-plus bucket that is not in active appeal represents revenue you have likely already lost. It just has not been written off yet.
What Drives AR Days Higher
The three most common drivers of elevated AR days in audiology practices are: first, slow initial claim submission, where claims are not submitted within 5 to 7 business days of the date of service. Second, inadequate denial management, where denied claims sit unworked for 15 to 30 days before a staff member follows up. Third, incomplete claim information at submission, which requires a corrected claim cycle that adds 21 to 35 days to the payment timeline.
Each of these is a workflow problem, not a billing staff competency problem. The workflow for submission timing, denial follow-up, and claim completeness can be systematized so that the right action happens at the right time without a staff member remembering to do it.
Real-Time AR as a Management Tool
A monthly billing report tells you what your AR looked like on one day per month. A real-time AR dashboard tells you what it looks like today, which payers are aging beyond normal timelines, and which specific claims need attention in the next 48 hours.
BillAR is built to surface this level of AR detail for audiology practices. It connects to your billing data, tracks each claim through its lifecycle, and flags aging claims before they move into the 60-plus bucket where recovery rates drop significantly.
If your current AR days are above 30 and you do not have real-time visibility into what is driving the number, schedule a BillAR demo. We will run your current AR data through the platform and show you exactly where the problem is.